On Tap at the Brewhouse Inn & Suites is hosting multiple private parties this week for state delegations to the Republican National Convention, featuring custom cheese carvings of Donald Trump as well as the party’s elephant mascot.
Located in the original Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery building near Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, the Brewhouse Inn & Suites calls itself the only “historic brewery hotel” in the city. Both the hotel and the in-house bar, called On Tap, are owned and operated by Gorman & Company of Oregon, Wis.
While the hotel isn’t hosting any of the delegations overnight, it is at full capacity for the four-day convention this week, which has drawn tens of thousands of visitors from across the country to Wisconsin’s largest city.
Tara Wurtz, area director of sales and marketing for the businesses, today told WisBusiness.com the Illinois delegation had booked the space from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. the previous night. On Tap offered attendees a charcuterie board with local and artisanal cheeses, cured meats and a bust of Trump carved out of cheese by an unnamed artist.
The stylized image of Trump’s profile was set against the state of Illinois, with the words “RNC 2024” in large block letters below adorned with white and orange cheese stars. The display also incorporated popcorn, the official snack food of Illinois, Wurtz noted.
“Illinois didn’t play it safe; they had fun with it,” she said, adding she suggested using Trump’s face for the cheese carving. “I don’t believe in doing ice sculptures, because they melt. Whereas cheese carving, it’s very indicative of what the Brewhouse stands for. It’s very much Wisconsin.”
She said she works with a private artist who creates the custom cheese sculptures for special events, but declined to share her name.
“It is something that I can say is exclusive to the Brewhouse Inn & Suites … It turned out amazing,” she said. “We did let Illinois take it home with them last night … She nailed it. She absolutely nailed it.”
The bar is hosting another private gathering tomorrow for the Minnesota GOP delegation, rolling out another cheese carving depicting an elephant standing in front of an image of Minnesota. Wurtz said she suggested the Trump image for that party as well, but the group went with the elephant instead.
“At the end of the day, we found a way to kind of bring it home, in terms of the full, authentic Wisconsin experience,” she said. “When you’re looking for those unique experiences, and the takeaways that these 50,000 visitors plus the international press are seeing, these takeaways are not something that can be replicated when they go back.”
She added: “That’s what makes Milwaukee very special, especially on the food scene.”
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